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20 inmates escape in attempted jailbreak at Sagamu prison

January 5, 2013 : Segun Olatunji, Abeokuta

No fewer than 20 inmates of the Sagamu Prison in Ogun State on Wednesday morning revolted and escaped from the facility.

Our correspondent learnt that during the attempted jailbreak which occurred around 3.am, some of the inmates as well as prison officials were seriously injured.

The number of casualties could not be confirmed but sources who pleaded not to be named told our correspondent that it was not unlikely that some of the prisoners might have been killed during the attempted jailbreak because of the heavy gunfire booming from inside the prison while the violence lasted.

The source added that the revolt by the violent prisoners who used all sorts of materials as missiles and weapons was however later contained by the members of the Armed Squad of the prison service who were initially taken by surprise and had to call for reinforcement.

The escapees were said to have bored a large hole in the wall at the back of the prison through which they escaped in the confusion caused inside the prison by their unexpected violent revolt.

It was also learnt that the attempted prison jail-break was aided by some yet-to-be ascertained “external forces in collaboration with some insiders.”

One of the run-away prisoners returned voluntarily to the prison yard while another was said to have surrendered himself to the police.

Our correspondent also gathered that some prison officials were already being interrogated by the police over the attempted jailbreak at the facility located on Prisons Street, Isale-Oko, Sagamu.

The Controller General of the Nigeria Prisons Service, Mr. Zakari Ohinoyi Ibrahim, confirmed the attempted jailbreak at the facility during an inspection of the Sagamu Prison on Friday.

Ibrahim told newsmen who were not allowed into the prison yard that four of the fleeing prisoners had been re-arrested and brought back to the prison.

The NPS boss, who spoke after inspecting the prison, however said that an investigation team had been put in place to ascertain the causes of the attempted jailbreak. He vowed that any prison official found culpable would be dismissed and prosecuted.

“The essence of the visit is a follow-up to the seriousness we attach to the issue of security because security is one of our major mandates in the prisons. This administration has said it over and over again that we will not tolerate any breach of security, especially when it points at any form of negligence.

“And if it goes beyond administrative negligence with criminality, we’ll bring in the police and other sister agencies so that we prove that we’ll not tolerate any lack of commitment to work, especially the one that touches on security.

“So, we have some issues here and that’s why I’m here. The issue is that there have been some escapees here. So, I came personally and even before coming I had sent a high-powered team here.

“I’m following up to ensure that the right thing is done and that any staff found culpable would face the full wrath of the law which will include dismissal and it could also include prosecution.”

“What I can tell you now, because full investigation is on, is we have about twenty escapees and some of them have been arrested now and full investigation is on. About four of them have been arrested. But what you must just go with now is that any staff that is found culpable would be dealt with accordingly,” Ibrahim said.

On the number of casualties recorded during the attempted jailbreak, the prisons service boss said, “Don’t worry, I’ve told you investigation is on and you should also know that when there is an incident like this there should be full investigation. Investigations are on. I’ve addressed the staff and I’ve told them we would not give room for half commitment. The commitment has to be full, total and even with the situation we have in the country now, we would not want anybody who would unnecessarily want to embarrass us because if you are not ready you move. There is no choice. You either remain and go by the law and work hard with full commitment. We are fully committed to this job and we want to work as a team but if you want to distract us or bring things that would embarrass us, we’ll tell you to go. But it will be better for those who don’t want to stay to go than for us to push them out because we are serious. Security is not something that we’ll play with at all.”

He stressed that the ongoing investigations into the incident would prove whether external forces played any role in the attempted jailbreak, noting that the integrity of the prison’s structure had not been compromised.

“External influence? Investigations would prove that. In terms of the structure, you can see the wall is solid and on top we have fence wire. Everything is okay but we are talking about the human beings now, the human factor and I’m telling you that if investigation indicts any person that has not done his job the way he’s supposed to do it, it can lead to dismissal and even prosecution and the person may change uniform,” Ibrahim warned.

Why not publish the inmate immdiately,we all understand this is nigeria,the name have to be scrutinize for some political reason,those you want to escape will be exclude and those you dont will be published….lol nigeria my country

adesola

it is not attempted but successful since inmates escaped. the quality of writing and editing by punch is worsening daily

There is a major disconnect btw the headline and the story.A jailbreak is a jailbreak and not an attempt.Punch wake up!

adewater

This is purely Jail break and not attempted Jail break. Look at the headline. Punch please do something.

http://punchng.com Akin Akinremi Segun

I think there should be a clear report here. and I also want everyone to understand that there are terms and ethics in every proffession, it is a well known fact that it was a jail break but I want to believe that the punch management have thier reasons for reporting the news as attempted jail break. to clear this, I want the editorial board responded to this noticed misup for clearification to boost our brand loyalty. Akin Akinremi Segun

tobi

i strongly believe that no body can change the situation on ground coz you can apply any name you deemed fit to it. Moreover, the way forward suppost to be the basis of this argument.

samuel

Ok. I’m officially not reading punch anymore. This is disastrous. This is not a national newspaper.

Adia Ezekiel .E.

Nearly can’t kill a bird.it was a jail break.nt attempted

Dey

punch should suspend this editor, how jail break becomes attempted? any punch staff in this forum shuld apologize immediately.

Kenny

And we say our leaders are bad. When people entrusted with little cannot oversee what’s entrusted to them effectively. Punch is so lazy in every aspect of bringing the story to their audience. They have never aspired to excellence. Simply content with mediocrity.

Kenns

…And we say our leaders are bad. When people entrusted with little cannot oversee what’s entrusted to them effectively. Punch is so lazy in every aspect of bringing the story to their audience. They have never aspired to excellence. Simply content with mediocrity…

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